Instant messaging clients are widely used and popular among Internet users. Instant messaging allows a user to maintain a contact list. Typically, this contact list is populated with friends, family, and/or co-workers. Instant messaging allows users to quickly and easily send a message to one or more of these individuals. Moreover, availability indicators are often used to notify users of the status of their contacts, such as available, unavailable, and busy. Other more detailed indicators also have been implemented.
Instant messaging services are now offered for wireless telephone subscribers. These services offer a mobile alternative with many of the same features that are available with traditional computer-based clients. In addition, mobile users can communicate with computer-based users directly. Mobile users also can communicate with computer-based users by forwarding instant messages from a user's computer to their mobile device or vice versa.
Wireless service subscribers have a variety of other wireless communication options such as push to talk (PTT), short message system (SMS) messaging, multimedia message system (MMS) messaging, voice messaging, and traditional voice calls. PTT, for example, provides a contact list similar to instant messaging with the ability to contact a user via half-duplex voice communication. The availability indicators for PTT are also similar to those of instant messaging. Traditional voice calls should continue to be the most prevalent wireless technology used; however, these supplemental services provide alternatives for situations in which a traditional telephone call is impractical.
Presence is another prevalent and fast growing technology field. Presence technologies have been implemented in a variety of applications. For example, security systems use a variety of sensors to detect the presence of potential thieves. By further example, Bluetooth-compatible mobile devices are capable of detecting a user's presence in their automobile and automatically transferring phone information including phonebook information and ongoing calls to their automobile's hands-free telephone system. Presence devices are also used in museums, art galleries, zoos, and other exhibitions to provide location-based information to patrons via a variety of means. Rudimentary presence determining features such as movement of a mouse or pressing a key on a keyboard are commonly used in computer systems to awake a computer from a standby or sleep mode.
Presence technology also has been used to determine a television viewer's like or dislike for a particular television show or movie by examining the behavioral and emotional responses of the viewer. Some television presence systems provide ratings information similar to Nielsen ratings, while others provide digital video recording functionality such as digital bookmarks for particular parts of a show or movie for which a television viewer behaviorally or emotionally indicates their preferences.
As briefly described above, the state of the art does not allow for updating the availability of one or more users for wireless communication applications based in part upon a user's presence relative to an interactive device. Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists for a system and method for providing user availability for a variety of wireless communication applications based upon a user's presence relative to an interactive device.